Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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212. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of compliance officers employed by the national vetting unit; when they were appointed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42643/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012-2016 provides for a range of offences and sanctions for non-compliance with the Act. In addition, the Act provides for the assigning of compliance officers with the specific powers to enter and inspect premises to ensure compliance.

I am informed by the Garda Authorities that at present all compliance issues are dealt with by the Disputes and Compliance Section of the Bureau. To date, the office has received notification of a small number of compliance requests and have acted on each issue.

The National Vetting Bureau has adopted best practice in relation to the management of compliance through a three tiered approach of support, self assessment, and investigation and compliance.

Pending the deadline for retrospective vetting of the 31 December 2017, the focus of the Bureau at present is on providing information to organisations as to their requirements to be vetted and supporting organisations to comply with the requirements of the Act.  In this regard, the Bureau has conducted a number of presentations to a wide range of organisations nationwide.  It is the intention of the Bureau to proceed with this supportive focus in line with the flexibilities and exemptions in the Act.

The Bureau is currently finalising a self-assessment compliance template for completion by all organisations.  This approach was outlined and discussed with organisations at seminars in the second quarter of 2017 and all organisations registered with the National Vetting Bureau will be required to complete the self assessment by the end of  December 2017.

Following this bedding-in period, the Bureau will appoint compliance officers, in line with human resource management policy and a schedule of planned audits for organisations will be undertaken throughout 2018.